Feeling dread: redundancies everywhere

[LemonT17]

I think this may be my first ever post... I'm wondering if anyone else is feeling absolute dread at the state of the job market, at local, national and global levels?

In South Wales, you have Legal & General (1000 jobs), Admiral (500 jobs) and I'm sure I've seen posts from employees at Principality Building Society too. You then have the big Welsh universities who have been through multiple iterations recently.

More broadly, you have Canva announcing this week a 22% reduction in their global workforce which includes many UK employees. Microsoft reducing 60k global workforce, and Virgin Media 02 also announcing cuts this week. And I'm sure many many more across the UK that I've not yet heard of.

I worry about so many people entering the job market at a really difficult time, where the job market is already so tough when competing against AI screening tools, and now lots and lots of talented people are all looking for the same few jobs available.

When I mention this to my peers they all seem non-plused and that I am worrying about nothing. Am I over reacting?!

I agree with you, it is worrying. We are entering some dark times financially.

Which areas are expanding and recruiting? Defence is the only growth sector I can think of.

This is the problem I think right now: when business ARE expanding, they're still trying to go leaner in the process. AI is replacing people. I feel like expansion used to mean increasing headcount almost as default, whereas now, it's decreasing it

Four family members are looking for work and it’s very tough at the moment. 3 have been lucky enough to get Christmas retail jobs . The other one has got a permanent position but totally outside the field he was hoping for after university. Between them they have made hundreds of applications and been prepared to travel miles for work

Teaching and childcare are recruiting

It’s very challenging. I don’t see how it will get better. We are in for huge changes with many casualties.

YANBU, I feel the same. I’m on maternity leave, working for one of the companies you’ve mentioned in your OP, and feel a dark cloud hanging over me. It’s grim.

If you want to tie yourself in knots worrying about things OP, there are many things out there you could add to your list. But I find that the best way to keep my equilibrium and not wake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat is to try my very best NOT to worry about anything that I can't change. Can you change this? No. Will you worrying about it actually improve the lot of anyone who does lose their job? No. If you want to feel like you're doing something positive for your community, find something where you can contribute and make a difference. But just sitting at home worrying is absolutely pointless.

Yup, very worrying. And normally if the job market contracts you can assume things will get better eventually, but with AI it doesn't feel like it will - all those starter jobs have gone, and many career type jobs too.

You know someone can be worried about something without sitting at home wringing their hands? I must’ve missed the part where OP said she was housebound with fear 🙄

I remember the late 80s/early 90s. Out of 7 of us (family), 6 were made redundant - one twice. All different industries/careers. The only one who didn't lose their job was a truck driver.

Someone earlier said teaching and child care are expanding. In London we're having primary schools closed because there are not enough children. So I question whether teaching and childcare really are an expansion area. Perhaps outside of London.

As we have an aging population I think looking after old people might be growth area. Either caring or perhaps providing services like handyman, drivers, admin help, social things. Healthcare would be the big area of need. .

I was about to come on to rant about my job and how I wanted to resign and saw your post.

It is worrying, along with that with the mim wage raises they are not moving management wages here - so you can be on 30k with 20 yrs experience managing a new start on 27k - Kick in the teeth!
But then those new starts are probably going to be replaced by AI or mid level staff expected to take on more work.

Also employers not being honest about what a job entails...I have been lumped with the tasks a 150k a year, with a company car and bonus GM was doing - despite being the Office manager on 16% of his wages.
I am trying SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to feel grateful for having a job, but right now its hard.

I work in higher education. It is brutal. We’ve lost more than 600 staff over the last 18 months and are into yet another cull.

I think worrying about possible redundancy, when you have a mortgage/rent and bills and possibly children, is perfectly natural. Unless you have a safety net of family money or rich husband behind you.
Id like the hear more of @maranella situation eg. How she can stop worrying when so much is at stake?

You are absolutely not overreacting. If you know anyone in the creative industries, which used to be a powerhouse in this country and have been UTTERLY decimated in recent years, you'd hear even worse. It's not even just that employment is declining - which it is- but also that there is NO WORK out there any more. A recent BECTU study revealed that over half of freelance contractors in the creative industries cannot find any work at all any more. We're not talking about a job as an employee, we're talking about not getting any gigs at all anymore. Financial services will be the next big story in early 2027 (already starting) and then marketing/advertising (thanks to the way agentic AI is completely rewriting how we market brands and how products become visible or invisible to those bots).
As an aside, I visit the US regularly and have many friends in the US. The midterms were a referendum against Trump but I also think it the blue wave was a lot to do with genuine repulsion against AI/tech bros (who very publicly supported this administration). There's a deeper message behind what happened during those elections.

It is absolutely disheartening for Uni leavers right now. DD decided to go back and do a masters because of the lack of jobs, and may go looking for a funded doctorate (slim pickings on those too) afterwards, we are lucky we can afford to support her. But it has affected retirement planning.

Her sis has gone into teaching (STEM, so plenty of jobs at the moment).

Until people stop using ai it will continue

Yanbu it is very concerning. Countries can vote out the idea of AI / data centres but that does leave China as an outlier. I’m not saying they’re bad or good even idk it’s fairly opaque, but they will keep progressing globally.

Plus, AI sucks our planet dry. Reminds me of scifi movie Oblivion.

Dd1 just got a permanent job which she's thankful for.
Dd2 will be embarking on university next year (but does have 2 x small pt jobs)
Dhs firm had a round of redundancies this year only 2 years after the last round.
You are right to be worried, op, but other than make sure you are in a union, take any training offered and keep your cv/LinkedIn updated there's not much you can do.
Sympathies, it's rough out there.

Most of dd1s friends did this, too.
They are calling it "emergency masters"

If it came down to it, and I had to choose between going back to teaching or letting the AI apocalypse consume us all, I'm honestly not sure which I'd pick.

I wonder how China will actually plan the AI future. There are two huge challenges for China in the decades ahead: the demographic crisis, which means they do have a clear motive to develop AI + robotics, but also a huge crisis around fresh water, which is why control over the Himalayas is of strategic importance. Easy to forget how much of China is a desert or near desert.

Businesses won't stop using it. It's way cheaper than people. AI replaces lots of jobs, customer service, legal secretaries, bookkeepers, developers etc. All at risk.

DH and I run our own business and this is normally our peak trading period. We're barely ticking over and visitors to our showroom are rarer than hens teeth. We've got a team of 8 that I'm seriously panicking over wages for given we are closed for 2 weeks over the festive break.